Category: music

Many years ago, when I was young, and working my way through life in the field of Lawn and Landscape Maintenance I developed a special bond with a beautiful little bird known as the Barn Swallow.

To me barn swallows were a quick little playful bird that darted in and out of the lawnmower’s path, amusing itself and me with a friendly game of chicken. I later realized that the lawn mower was kicking up a fresh supply of insects and the swallows were dashing about mercilessly eating them.

Regardless, I developed a special bond with the birds during countless laborious hours of riding a lawnmower on long hot Michigan summer days with nothing To do but watch them buzz around my head. If I were an American Indian the Barn Swallow would certainly be my spirit animal.

Now fast forward to that time in Colombia when my wife was sick, fast forward to a cancer clinic in the city of Pereira, the urban hub of a region known as Colombia’s “eje cafetero”. This was where she was from.

It was determined that she needed immediate surgery, I promptly caught the soonest flight from Detroit. After 18 hours and 5 planes I finally arrived. I was so glad to see her, I hadn’t seen her in some time and even though the results of her surgery were bad news I was just happy to be with her. I noticed there were Barn Swallows nested on the ledge, outside her fourth floor window, but I didn’t pay much attention to them, I was focused on my wife.

Time went on, the sickness progressed. It was hard watching my beautiful, vivacious, and young wife deteriorate so quickly. I was in a foreign country without my immediate friends or family. But no matter how difficult it was for me, it hurt to know it was way worse for her.

I spent a lot of time in that room with her, looking out that window at the barn swallows. I noticed that the swallows on the ledge looked just like the swallows in Michigan.

Then it hit me; they were the same birds. The swallows from Michigan migrate to South America during the winter months. Throughout the sickness I looked to the swallows for a relief from the stress. And as the tumor grew I spent more and more time looking out that window at my friends the swallows.

When that fateful moment came, as difficult as it was; a terrible feeling to lose someone you love, I looked out the window and the swallows were turned toward the clinic looking back in, lined up and gently chirping, as if to say, “Don’t worry Dieter, we’ve got your back, we’re here for you. You’re not alone.”